You won’t believe what’s hanging from a rack in the Kitchener trainers’ room, only several feet from where coach Joe Crozier often sits.
     Amidst the assortment of jackers, clothes and wire hangers is a lone thick rope.  On the end of it is a noose.
     Crozier wouldn’t say where it came from, what it’s doing there or what it symbolizes.  He muttered something about people expecting him to lead the Rangers to the Ontario Hockey League championship – or else.  Then he laughed and said: “It’s a secret.”
     One possibility is that Crozier might give the noose to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at the Auditorium tonight if the Rangers beat them again in the eight-point Emms Division final.  A win would give the Rangers a commanding 4-0 lead and leave the Greyhounds dangerously close to the gallows.
     Rangers won the opener 6-2 Sunday in an unusual game in which all eight goals were scored in the final 13 minutes of the second period.
     “I don’t think the next game will be as easy,” Crozier said Monday.  “The Soo practised well today and they won’t be as fired as they were Sunday after coming off that tough (seven-game) series with Brantford.”
     Some thought Sunday’s game would be a physical one, but with the exception of three fights it wasn’t as rough as other slam-bang encounters between the two fierce rivals.
     “I think they (Greyhounds) realize they can’t take too many penalties against us.  It wouldn’t be wise,” Rangers forward Mike Moher said.
     The Rangers scored on one of 3 penalties Sunday and are five-for-12 in five playoff games.
     Besides the fact that Soo penalties bring on the high-scoring Rangers line of Brian Bellows, Grant Martin, and Jeff Larmer, it doesn’t appear the Hounds can intimidate the Rangers with rough play because the Rangers have on of their toughest teams in years.
     “I think they know we won’t be pushed around and that we’ll fight back,” Moher said.  “And we’re just as tough on the road as we are at home.”
     Moher is one guy that neither the Hounds nor any team can push around.  His three-year career has been filled with skirmishes and his penalty total of more than 1,000 minutes is believed to be a league record.  His agressiveness, plus his talent which has been surfacing again recently, makes him a valuable asset to the Rangers.
     Moher and the Soo’s Hugh Larkin squared off in a furious slugfest after only 19 seconds Sunday, but there were no further incidents between the two.
     “He gave me a shot in the back of the head to start it,” Moher said.  “He got in one punch, but then I gave him a few good ones.  I don’t think he’ll try anything again.”
     The Rangers have won all five playoff games (four against Windsor), outscoring the opposition 28-10.  Currently they don’t appear to have any weaknesses.  The defending league champions are strong in goal and on defence, have a powerful balanced  offence and have been masterful in shorthanded situations.  They’ve killed 21 of 23 playoff penalties, including all four Sunday.
     Moher could think of only one thing the Rangers could be doing better.
     “We could get a few more guys chipping in with some scoring.  The top line (Bellows, Martin, Larmer) is doing a lot of scoring and that’s the way it should be or else we could be in trouble.  The other lines are getting a few, but with all our chances we should be getting more.  I think we will.  I know myself, I had three or four good chances Sunday but didn’t score.”
     The series winner will meet the Leyden Division champion for the OHL title, with that victor advancing to the Memorial Cup tournament which will be play in the city of the Quebec champion.  The Leyden final between the Ottawa 67’s and the Oshawa Generals doesn’t open until Friday in Ottawa.